I'll Always Find You
by DoctorKatnissPotter
Summary: Lieutenant Duckling/Captain Swan. Princess Emma and kitchen boy/sailor/pirate Killian. Killian and Emma become best friends when he moves in the castle. But before they let their feelings evolve, Killian leaves for the navy and Emma cannot forgive him. Two years later, Killian returns as a pirate. It's a shock for Emma, but also for Killian. (I suck at summaries)
1. As blue as the sky can be

**Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT, nor its characters, I just have fun with them... **

Emma could remember that day perfectly, it was a sunny morning of September, around a month before her 7th birthday. The day Killian Jones arrived at the castle with his brother. They were escorted by two guards to the library, where Emma and her parents were, Snow and Charming studying a map on the enormous table in the middle of the room and her reading a book about dragons in a corner. When she heard the door was open she leaned forward to see the incomers.

-"Your Majesties, these young boys are asking for an audience", said one of the guards pushing two boys in front of him. They both had ink-black hair and eyes as blue as the sky that morning. _They must be brothers _was the first thought that went through Emma's mind when she saw them. The oldest one introduced them.

-"Your Majesties", he said while bowing slightly, "my name is Liam Jones and this is my little brother, Killian." Emma was sure she had heard his said brother muter '_younger _brother', to more to himself than to his sibling. His brother continued, as if he hadn't heard him: "I came today to ask you a favour, in the name of my father. One day, some years ago, he rescued you one his boat after your ship had been attacked, and you said you owed him for that."

-"I remember your father. And I remember we owed him for saving us, my wife and me. Is he well?" asked Charming in a calm and warm voice.

-"I don't know, your Majesty, for he has left us some months ago." He looked pained when he said that but he quickly got back to his impassive self. "I stayed and took care of my brother during that time, but I have to take the sea in some days now and I wondered if maybe, in memory of what my father did, you would take my brother at your service." It's only then that Emma looked at the older boy's clothes (a navy uniform); too busy looking at the younger boy before. She guessed that he must have been around the same age as her, maybe slightly older. He was standing at his brother's side, proud and quiet. For a moment, his eyes met Emma's, she smiled at him, feeling sympathetic to the boy but he didn't reply and looked away.

-"Of course, it would be a pleasure" said Snow, not going deeper in the subject of the boys' abandonment, with a smile. _The exact same smile as the blond girl _thought Killian. "Actually, it's a perfect timing, we lack one kitchen boy. Would that suit you, Killian?" Emma knew that it was not true, but she didn't say anything, wondering why her mother had lied…

-"Uhm, I, I guess, yes." He replied. "Thank you, your Majesty…?" he added, unsure, after his brother poked him discreetly with his elbow.

-"Good, then! Emma? Would you mind going with Killian to show him around? Then going to the kitchen to ask for some tea on your way back here?" asked Snow to her daughter, knowing she was listening attentively.

-"No problem, mom." Emma got up, marked the page where she stopped reading and put her book on the big table on her way out. "Are you coming?" She was looking at Killian, who hadn't shown any sign of movement at all.

The two children exited the library and Emma lead their way around the palace, naming the different rooms they came across and giving Killian an awful lot of unnecessary details about them. It was always like that when she was unsure of herself or of what to say or in this case, both. She was unable to stop speaking. They kept walking, Emma, talking of history facts she had gathered about the palace and Killian looking around him only half listening what the princess was saying. About thirty minutes later, they arrived in the kitchen, where Emma asked Sookie, her favourite chef, for tea, biscuits and a hot chocolate. Killian, who had been following her for the past half-an-hour, was now lost in his thoughts, looking at his surroundings. All the way long, he had been constantly amazed by every new room they went by, always trying to figure how many times his entire house could fit in each of them, the minimum was once and a half and he hadn't even bother to try to find out the maximum. He only went back to the present when he realised that Emma had talked to him.

-"I said: Do you want some hot chocolate? I prefer that to tea." she repeated when she saw that he didn't respond to what she had just said.

-"Uhm, yes, your uh..." he didn't finish his sentence, unsure of which title to give her. Liam had given him some advises on the way there, telling him what titles to use, and things like that, but everything was a bit of a blur now.

-"You can call me Emma if you want." She said that with a smile, not exactly the same as earlier, more sincere this time. Then turning to Sookie, she asked for a second chocolate and demanded for everything to be brought to the library.

On their way back, Emma spoke about the people in the castle, giving him some of the most important names like Carson, the major-domo, or the chef cook, Luigi. She also talked about the dwarves, and Ruby and Graham. She ended her talk, near the library, by saying, with sympathy, that he should get on very well with the others servants and that if he needed anything, he could come and ask to her parents.

Unfortunately, Killian misunderstood Emma's kindness for pity... "I don't need your charity, you know! You can keep it; I don't need a speech from a spoiled little princess about what I should do or about her palace either! I don't care about anything! I don't want to be here, I want to go with my brother!" There they were the words he had forbid himself to say aloud, not wanting his brother to feel guilty about leaving him. It was all her fault if he had said that. _I hate her_ he thought.

-"I am not spoiled! And I just trying to be nice, it is not my fault if you are here! Go with your brother if that's what you want so much!" Emma was now almost screaming, at the boy in front of her. She hated people assuming that because she was a princess, she was automatically a spoiled little brat, it was unfair, because these people judged her on her rank and not on who she was. She was furious at the boy for calling her a 'spoiled little princess'_. I hate him _she decided.

In the library, Liam, Snow and Charming, were talking about Killian and Snow was just saying that she sure he get on like a house on fire with Emma. The three of them jumped when the doors flung open revealing a red-faced Emma followed by a frowning Killian. When asked what was wrong, neither of them was willing to give an explanation.

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-"Hey, Swan! You might want to focus on what you're doing instead of daydreaming. What is so important that you don't even pay attention to your lesson?" asked Killian when entering the library, carrying a trey with two cup of hot chocolate and some biscuits. "I brought you sustenance, thinking you might be in need of a break after all that hard work, but obviously, you didn't need me for that..."

-"I was just thinking about the day we met. It seems to me like it was ages ago" said Emma, sighing. She closed her geography book..

-"Not ages, just 9 years..." he told her with a crooked grin. "How about that break huh?"

She had been studying for the past two hours, but then, she looked outside the window and saw the blue sky that reminded her of her best friend's eyes and it lead her to think about the day she had decided she hated the boy in front of her. _Idiot _she thought


	2. Of Swords and Books

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything (sadly)... **

**Thanks for the reviews guys, really I love them...  
>Oh, I forgot to mention it in the first chapter but English is not my first language (I'm Belgian and I speak French but I'm studying English), so please I you see any mistakes (I'm sure there are lots) feel free to say it...<strong>

Emma was lying in the gardens, in a sea of blooming flowers. She was looking at the clouds trying to determine their shape, as she was doing when she was a little girl. She was waiting for Killian to join her for their sword fight lesson. Well, actually it was hers, but she needed a partner that wouldn't go easy on her because she was a princess, so he was the most indicated. Most of the time the fights were fair and equal each of them using their different advantages: Emma mainly relied on her instinct; Killian was more the cunning types, predicting the other's movement in every details. They were both fast and swift in their movements and they both used the other's weaknesses as a force. They were good, according to Lancelot who was the one who had been giving them lessons three times a week for the past four years, but too dissipated for their own sake. They were always challenging each other, trying to win both with their swords and words and that let them to commit mistakes that would be fatal in a real life fight.

Killian was late. He knew it, but Sookie had insisted he finished all of his chores before leaving the kitchens to meet Emma. Once he had finished peeling and cutting the vegetables for dinner, he told the chef he was leaving, grabbed two pieces of cake and ran to meet Emma. He hadn't seen her at lunch so he presumed that she'd hungry. He found her at her usual spot, behind a bush of pink flowers behind which she could see a big part of the garden without being seen. She was lying on her back, her golden curls disturbed by a light spring breeze. She was looking at the sky with the same fascination as when she a seven...

-"Hey, Swan! We're late!" he told her, already walking in the opposite direction, towards the small courtyard, near the stables where they trained whether the weather allowed it or not. She got up clumsily and ran to catch up with him. It's her clumsiness and un-princess like behaviour that got her that nickname. Killian thought that she was some sort of bad duckling, not at all a princess and that's why he called her 'Swan' some sort of a friendly mockery.

-"It's your fault, if we're late, walnut!" she said while rubbing off the grass from her trousers.

-"Walnut?" he raised an eyebrow to the insult, giving her cake

-"I was told this morning that a princess was not allowed to swear" she said before biting in the pastry. "So, after thinking about it for some time, I discovered that with the right intonation, any word can be used as an insult. Why are you late anyway?"

He told her about Sookie's decision of not letting him go to join Emma until he has finished all his work. They kept on talking until they arrived in front of a very pissed Lancelot. Without a word, the teenagers went to grab their wooden swords, only to discover that they were real metal swords that day. That meant no more child play... Emma was beaming with joy and for a moment, her smile blinded Killian. They started training, getting used to the heaviness of their weapons adapting their movement. If Killian was getting used to it rather quickly, Emma was struggling a bit. He was used to carrying heavy trays all around the palace but, obviously, not her. Anyway, she did her best to maintain her balance while handling the sword carefully, paying attention not to hurt herself or Killian. Once they got the hang of it, they started moving, this time, adapting their footwork, being careful to stay in equilibrium. Lancelot gave them tips all along, telling them how to hold the sword, where to place their feet, etc. They did not fight that day, the knight wanting them to handle their blades perfectly before getting to fight with them. All the way long, the teenagers bickered with one another to the point that Lancelot sends them away, too tired of the both of them.  
>Emma's arms were sore but not for a second she regretted the change of equipment, it meant that Killian and her were skilled enough to be trusted with real swords. That was Emma's purpose in all of this, owning something that hadn't been given to her because of her birth. Killian on the other hand, needed to be able to wield with a sword for he wanted to enter the navy and to be able to defend himself and his ship if pirates were to attack them. Emma knew he wanted to join the navy, she had known since the day they met. On their way to the castle, Killian asked his companion why she wasn't present at lunch.<p>

-"My tutor didn't want to let me leave until I was able to give him all the names of the seas and realms known around the Enchanted Forest." She said with a shrug.

-"So that's why you weren't there? You were studying. Then, why didn't came by the kitchen to grab something to eat?" he couldn't grasp her logic nor the fact that she would miss lunch to study.

-"Because I wasn't studying... I got out of the library at the first occasion I got and went straight to the gardens. I can't get to remember all the names of everything and surely didn't want to miss today's practise for a lost cause... So I escaped but I knew that my mother would take the first occasion to tell me off for that, so I didn't want to risk being deprived of the very thing I didn't want to miss... " she said with a smile. There she was, the Emma he knew. They got into the palace through the kitchen, where Emma took some biscuit from a plate and asked for cinnamoned cocoa at Sookie. One of her mother's maid got into the kitchen and when she noticed Emma, she told her that her mother was looking for her.

-"Did my mother looked pissed?" Emma asked even though she already knew the answer.

-"Relatively yes, your Highness. Especially since it is not the first time you did that this month. The Queen is waiting for you in the small parlour" the servant said, before curtsying and leaving the kitchen.

-"You're screwed, Swan." Killian gave her hot cocoa and the biscuits she had asked.

-"I know right" Emma mumbled. Then got an idea and asked Sookie if her mother had already asked for tea.

-"Not yet, Miss" answered the chef. Glad that the answer was negative, Emma asked for her mother's favourite tea exactly as her mother liked it to be ready in twenty minutes. Then, she hurried to the dresser and took two porcelain cups and saucers, and the same number of silver spoons. She also took a porcelain plate that matched the cups and asked Killian if he would mind disposing some biscuits and her mother's favourite cakes on the plate. When she ran out of the room saying that she would be back in time to bring tea herself to her mum, Killian asked her what she was up she simply answered "diplomacy" before sprinting to her bedroom, catching a maid on her way and asking her to help to get changed. Fifteen minutes later, she was all cleaned up, with her hair brushed and she was running as fast as could, which was not fast at all because of the dress she was now wearing, towards the kitchen. When she got there, she almost knocked out one of the kitchen girls who had the misfortune of standing behind the door. She saw that everything she had asked was properly laid out on a tray and ready to be taken away, but when she tried to take it, her hands where started to shake because of the weight of it. Killian noticed it immediately, shook his head, rolled his eyes and took the tray from her telling her that it was not a job for a princess. Normally, Emma would have started to argue with him but the tea was getting cold and her mother certainly angrier. They made their way to the parlour at a steady speed. He looked at her dress with a questioning look.

-"I told you, it's diplomacy. If I get to sooth my mother by showing her that I can take things seriously and that I promise her that I won't run away from my lessons again, maybe she won't ban the sword practise from me for too long..." she explained. When they got in front of the parlour, she took the tray out of Killian's hands and asked him to open the door.

-"Good luck, Swan" he whispered her as she entered.

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-"What's the verdict?" Killian asked Emma when she got back to the kitchen.

-"No practise for the rest of the week and a catch up lesson tomorrow afternoon..." she said, sitting next to him at the table where he was eating and folding her arms on the table. "It wouldn't be that bad if I didn't have to know all what I was supposed to study this morning for tomorrow. I'm screwed!" she buried her face in her arms.

-"I could help you study if you want" he proposed her. Emma raised her head.

-"You... Really? You would do that?" she asked, incredulous.

-"Yeah" she shrugged his shoulders. "Liam taught me everything he knew about the seas and realms before he left."

-"Thanks Killian!" she hugged him before getting up and rushing outside, telling him that she was grabbing her things and that they could meet in ten minutes in the library. Has she hurried to get her books, Killian was left staring blankly at the door, still feeling the ghost of her arms around his neck.

They worked until dinner, and then they got back to the library and kept on working for hours. It was nearly dawn, and Emma was repeating for the last time what she had memorized during the night.

-"It's perfect, Swan. Can we go to sleep now?" he asked while yawning.

-"Okay, go. I'll stay re-read one last time. Thank you, really, I mean it." She told him smiling. He was tempted to do as she said, but the carpet on the library floor was rather comfortable and what bad could ten more minutes do, after all?

In the morning they were found sleeping on the floor, just like when they were children and that they were reading story books.


End file.
